Which meant I shouldn’t be trying to start something with anyone.
Or maybe it meant I should, before I went too crazy and ended up as a resident of Happyville Manor. Who knew? Not me.
I didn’t particularly want to end up crazy and babbling to anyone who’d listen about the vampire haunting me. I just didn’t know how to handle the knowledge I’d murdered her, and not because she’d wanted to die. I mean, die again. I hadn’t killed her the first time she’d died. He had.
Freakin’ bastard. I didn’t even know if he’d been telling me the truth, because Merriven had been in my head. He’d combed through my memories. There were still traces of his slimy mental touch in my mind. I’d hoped his death would erase them, but no luck.
I’d felt guilty before, back when I’d believed I’d done what Ginger wanted. When I thought I’d saved her from eternity with a sadistic monster. That guilt was nothing compared to what I felt now.
Calling Leglin was an option. Sometimes snuggling the giant hound helped drive Ginger away. But he was probably sprawled out on my bed and asleep. I trashed that idea.
Eventually, I fell asleep, and Ginger found me in my dreams. She chased after me as I ran, ignoring my tearful apologies. Strangers pointed at me as I ran by with her on my heels. They whispered “Murderer”, one after the other.
It wasn’t a restful night’s sleep.
“Discord.”
I opened my eyes and focused on a line of light. Someone had opened the door, but not wide enough to poke their head inside.
“Discord, Sunny called,” Logan said. “She said you’re supposed to be at Rita’s office at ten-thirty. It’s eight-forty-five, and it’s still snowing.”
“Shoot!” I threw back the covers and lunged out of the bed. “I’m gonna be late.”
There wasn’t time to drive home, shower, and change, before driving to the real estate office. I stood there, trying to decide whether to teleport and leave my car, or not.
“Are you decent?”
Looking down, I shrugged. His tee reached about mid-thigh on me. “Yeah.”
He pushed the door open. “There’s a lot of...you look really cute.”
My hair was probably waving hello, and I could feel sleep crusted in the corners of my eyes. “You have an odd idea of cute, but thanks.”
“You’re welcome. The radio’s reporting a lot of minor accidents, and there’s over a foot of snow already, with ice under it. You might not want to try driving your car in it.”
“I guess I’ll teleport home.”
Logan nodded in agreement. “I can pick you up from Rita’s office, if you want to come get your car later. The road crews are out, so you might be able to drive it home then.”
“I guess. I kind of wanted to go to my new house. You know, to sit in it and soak up the fact it’s finally mine.”
“Oh.”
“You haven’t seen it. Any chance you’d feel like driving me out there and watching me act completely goofy?”
Logan chuckled. “Love to.”
We settled a few details before I grabbed all my things and teleported home. “Mom, I’m home!”
She came to my room as I tossed everything onto my bed. Leaning against the doorframe, she asked, “Is that Logan’s shirt?”
“Yep, he loaned it to me.” I stripped. Being naked in front of Mom wasn’t a hang up of mine. After all, she’d given birth to me, and used to change my diapers and give me baths. “I’m going to hop in the shower.”
“All right. Do you want something for breakfast?”
“That would be great. I’m going to teleport to the meeting.”
“No, you’re not. Your father’s on the way over. He should be here in twenty minutes.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll be out in a few.” After I’d taken the quickest shower ever, dressed, and hung up my tiger coat, Mom called me to breakfast.
Purse and less-dressy pea coat in hand, I hurried to the kitchen. Dad was drinking coffee and sitting at the table with Tonya. I kissed the top of his head in passing, and ruffled Tonya’s auburn curls. “Good morning. Where are the dogs?”
Tonya pointed at the window. “Bigs are outside, littles are hiding under a blanket on the couch.”
“Here.” Mom handed me a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. “Eat.”
“Thank you.” I kissed her cheek and plopped down in a chair. “Were you guys excited when you bought this house? Because I’m on Cloud Nine.”
“We were,” Dad said. “First houses are special.” He smiled at Mom, and she returned it. Something, or someone, thumped into the back door then Leglin galloped past the large window, Kyra in hot pursuit.
“Well, they’re having fun.” I began eating.
“You’re not the one who has to dry them when they come in.” Tonya sighed.
“Sorry, but thank you. I promise I’ll do something nice for you.” Mr. Whitehaven gave us generous bonuses at Christmas, and I’d missed Terra’s birthday. Taking both teens on a shopping trip after Christmas might work.
Tonya shrugged. “You don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to. It’ll have to be after I move though. Ooh, maybe we can have a slumber party at my house.”
“That would be fun. Will Terra be able to go?”
“Yes.”
Dad cleared his throat. “We need to leave in five to have enough time to get there.”
“Right.” I gobbled down my breakfast, and left with Dad.
In his car, he glanced at me. “Your mother said you stayed over at Logan’s last night. Are you two seeing each other now?”
Dad increased the wiper speed to combat the snowflakes trying to collect on the windshield.
“Kind of easing into it. He slept on the couch,” I added, because my first response sounded weird by itself.
“He seems like a nice guy. Definitely an incredible mechanic.”
“You should see his car. It’s a ’69 Challenger he restored. Slow down, someone’s going to...”
Dad was already applying the brake, and the truck that slid through the intersection missed us by a foot. “Good job, co-pilot.”
“Thank you, Captain. You may proceed.”
“I thought Nick was nice too. The boys really liked him.”
Insta-guilt. “Yeah, he was, but we argued too much.”
“Ah.” Dad left it at that.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Logan’s picking me up.”
“Lunch date?”
“No, I want to go bask in being a homeowner, and he hasn’t seen my house yet. Plus, my car’s at his garage and I need to pick it up.”
“All right. Looks like it’ll be a while before I can have a lawn crew go out there.”
I frowned at the falling snow. “Well, at least I won’t have to worry about snakes until spring.”
SEVEN
When we finally left Rita’s office, Logan was sitting in the waiting area. I held up my new keys in my left hand, flexing my right—holy crap, there’d been about a billion things to sign!—and jingled them with a grin. “All done. I’m a home owner.”
“Congratulations.” He stood and held out his hand to my dad. “Hello, Mr. Jones.”
“Hello, Logan.” They shook. “You did a superb job with Cordi’s car.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Call me Ben.” Dad turned to me and held out his arms. “Give me a hug, and go have fun.”
“Thank you for helping me with everything.” I threw my arms around him. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You’re welcome, honey.”
“Be careful driving home, and tell Betty and the rug rats hi for me.”
“I will. You two be careful. Bye.” Dad left, and we followed him a moment later, once I had my coat on.
“The turn’s coming up on the left.” I was bouncing in my seat. “Look, they added the ‘Sold’ part on the sign.”
“I see that.” He began slowing his truck.
“I’m being ann
oying, aren’t I? I’m sorry.” I’d yapped non-stop about my new house the whole drive.
“No, you’re not. I don’t blame you for being excited. It’s a big deal.” He made the turn, the tail of his truck slipping a bit, and brought it to a halt after entering the drive. We could see the house and garage down the unbroken lane of snow. “That’s a pretty picture.”
“It is.” All of my worries about home ownership had melted away. “That’s my house. Gosh. I’m like, officially an adult now.”
Logan chuckled. “Do you need a minute?”
“Nope. I need to get inside and see if it’s as awesome as I remember.”
“All right.” He began to drive forward.
“It does need paint, and there’s an unfinished efficiency apartment at the back of the garage.”
“How much land?”
“Twenty-four acres.”
“Nice.” He slowed the truck and pulled up in front of the garage. “It’s a good-sized place.”
“I know, right? The dogs are going to love it.” Unbuckling my seat belt, I was out the door before he’d shut off the engine. “Come on.”
“Right behind you.”
I giggled the whole way to the front door, unlocked it, and stepped inside. Most of the first floor was an open plan, and I scanned it, hardly able to believe it was really mine. “That’s my fireplace, and my kitchen. Ooh!”
“Wow.” Logan had come inside. “This is really nice. I like it.”
I spun around with a smile, and my jaw dropped because he was carrying a picnic basket and a blanket. “What’s that for?”
He tilted his head toward the fireplace. “Soames mentioned you’d have a fireplace. I brought wood, thought we could have a celebratory lunch.”
How thoughtful, and kind of...no, it was pretty much romantic, unless he’d packed cheese sandwiches. “You’re awesome. But first, the grand tour, okay?”
“Sure.” He put down the basket and blanket, and I immediately began leading him around.
It took half an hour, because I wanted to coo over various things. Logan went outside after we’d returned downstairs, and brought in the wood. He began building a small fire after checking out the fireplace.
“You can make it bigger.”
“It’ll burn for hours.”
“I can put it out when we’re ready to leave.”
“Right,” he said. “Tiger Lady is also Psychic Lady, with Amazing Fire Powers.”
I laughed and opened the basket. “Holy cow, dude.”
The basket was packed, with two wine glasses and a nice bottle of pinot noir front and center. I pulled it out. “How did you manage this in just a couple of hours on a Saturday?”
No brightly colored plastic plates or paper napkins to be found. The plates were bone china, the silverware heavy, and the napkins were linen. Even the food was packaged in nice, glass serving dishes. My mouth began watering as I unloaded them. Coq au vin, green beans almandine, and parsleyed potatoes. There was cheesecake drizzled with chocolate for dessert, two mugs and a black thermos full of coffee, too.
“I pulled a few strings.” He’d turned around. “One of the clan works at a French restaurant. I hope the food’s good.”
“Are you kidding? This is fantastic.” I couldn’t believe he’d gone to that much trouble. Well, okay, he hadn’t had to cook any of it, but still...I felt my eyes narrow and cocked my head. “You wouldn’t happen to be trying to seduce me, would you?”
He blinked, a strong feeling of genuine surprise emanating from him. “No, why?”
“Because there’s candles.” I pulled them out. “There’s wine, and a fabulous French meal. Plus the cozy fire. It’s all quite the romantic setup, dude.”
Logan surveyed everything. “When you put it that way, I guess it is, but I swear my intentions are pure. I just wanted a nice lunch, since this is a special day for you.”
“This is an extremely nice lunch.” My God, how sweet was he, doing something like this without an ulterior motive? “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Come eat before everything gets cold.”
An hour later, I savored the last bite of cheesecake and sighed. “Yum. Absolutely delicious.”
“The French have gained a new fan. That was fantastic.” Logan held up the thermos. “More coffee?”
“I’m good, thank you.” I checked my phone. “It’s almost two.”
“And you have a case to work on.” Logan began repacking the basket. “What’s your next step on it?”
“I don’t know. Someone would’ve called if Rico had turned up.” I checked. “He’s alive. The last place he was seen was Dreamland, and you know how much luck we had there.”
“Yeah.”
“About the only thing I can do is try to find more of his friends to talk to, unless something pops up on the psychic radar.” I looked out the front window. “And it’s still freakin’ snowing.”
“You can use my truck. Or my services as a chauffeur, because Soames has zero winter driving experience.” Logan scowled down at the basket. “This isn’t working. How the hell did they fit it all in here?”
“I’ll help.” I moved to my knees to assess the situation, and began rearranging dishes. “You don’t have stuff you need to do?”
“Garage is closed due to inclement weather. Alanna is chaperoning Terra and our other teens.” He handed me the wine glasses. “I’m not allowed to supervise the play dates because I intimidate the boys.”
“Imagine that. I bet you stand where you can see everyone, with your arms crossed and that super serious look on your face.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, yeah. I guess I do.”
Laughing, I closed the basket. “There, all done. I’m going to guess it doesn’t help that you call them hanging out together ‘play dates’ either.”
“They’re children.”
“They’re teenagers, Logan. Entirely different. Also, Terra is Queen.”
“True. I just,” he sighed. “I don’t want her to get hurt. She’s mooning over Devon and he’s not remotely Consort material.”
I sat and pulled my knees to my chest, hugging my legs. “Is there a rule that the Queen can’t play the field until she figures out what she wants in a guy?”
Logan opened his mouth, closed it, and swallowed before answering. His expression wavered between surprise and a little sick. “No, but she’s just a kid.”
“See, there’s where you’re going wrong. Sure, she’s a teenager, and unless shifters develop way different than humans, there’s hormones and stuff running wild, but she’s also a young woman.” I held up my hand when he started to speak. “A young woman who is aware of what’s expected of her, and who desperately wants to make good decisions.”
Logan thought about that for a minute. “You’re saying I’m worrying too much.”
“You’re worrying too much. She might get her heart a little bruised, but that’s part of growing up, and life in general. You can’t protect her from it. When she’s ready, I have no doubt she’ll make a good decision.” I frowned. “I don’t know if she’ll make it for herself and the clan, or just the clan though.”
He had to think about that too. “We want her to be happy.”
“Might want to make sure and tell her that. A lot.”
Logan studied me for a few seconds. “It sounds like you may have been worrying about her too.”
I shrugged. “I like her, and we kind of have stuff in common. I mean, neither of us signed up for the gigs we have. Both of us kind of wish we were normal girls. The big difference is that I was a normal girl for fifteen years. Terra’s never been a normal girl.”
Very quietly, he said, “I know.”
“Not that being a normal girl is all fun and games. But she doesn’t know that.” Heck, I realized I didn’t even know any “normal” girls anymore. My friends were witches and shifters. Oh, and one elf: Alleryn, Thorandryll’s healer.
“
What can I do about it?”
Perfect time to make good on that promise I’d made to Tonya. “You can’t do anything, except okay her going out with Tonya and me. We’ll do fun, normal stuff. Hit the mall and shop. Stuff like that.”
He began to shake his head, stopped, and looked me straight in the eyes. “You’ll keep her safe?”
“Duh.”
A half-smile appeared on his face. “Would you be insulted if I wanted Alanna to go along?”
“Nope. I like her too. She’d probably have fun.”
“Okay, but I’ll warn you that I’ll probably be a nervous wreck until she’s home.”
I released my legs and moved to my knees again. Leaning over the picnic basket, I crooked my finger at him. “Come here.”
Logan leaned forward. “What?”
I kissed him. Just a quick smackeroo on the lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Trusting me. My first meal in my new home. Being a total sweetheart. Take your pick, dude.”
He turned slightly pink while I spoke. “Oh. Uh, we’d probably better get going.”
“Right.” I climbed to my feet and looked at the fire. A little concentration, and no more flames. I added a touch of cryokinesis to cool the remains. “Let’s go.”
A clan member I didn’t know by name yet was on guard duty at the door. He greeted us before saying, “Soames wants to talk to you. Something about your case.”
“Okay, thanks.” I wondered if I’d missed a call and pulled out my phone to check while following Logan to the stairs.
“You’re neglecting your duties.” We both stopped and looked up. Danielle stood at the top of the flight. She looked pissed, her eyes narrowed and her lips a thin slash across her face. She glared down with her arms crossed. “Your place is with the Queen.”
“I know my place, and my duties to our Queen.” Logan’s voice was the same silky growl he’d used to stop us from sniping at each other while we were searching for my mom. I shivered, and he added, “Apparently better than you do.”
“Ooh, burn,” I murmured.
“Discord.”
Frost & Bothered (Discord Jones Book 4) Page 6
